Family grieves for one lost baby of six

Published: Sunday, December 27, 1998

HOUSTON (AP) - As Nkem Chukwu and her husband, Iyke Louis Udobi, spend the holidays both delighted and worried about their newborn octuplets, another Houston couple involved in a multiple birth this year is somber.

Chris Collins gave birth to five live babies Nov. 11 at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, delivered by the same team that greeted seven of the eight Louis octuplets Dec. 20. The first girl was born Dec. 8.

But Mrs. Collins, with her husband Christopher, said they're also mourning the loss of a sixth baby she carried until Oct. 18, a boy who was stillborn.

Though hospital officials referred to the babies as quintuplets, the second set ever born in Houston, the Collinses consider their children sextuplets.

Unlike the octuplet parents, Nigerian natives who already have received offers of gifts and help from around the world, the Collinses have received help from a handful of mostly local sources.

While they say they wonder how many babies it takes to draw attention nationally, the couple added that the worry for their five infants still dominates their lives.

Like the six girls and two boys born to Ms. Chukwu, the Collins' three girls and two surviving boys remain in critical condition at Texas Children's Hospital.

"We feel like they're not even our own children yet," Mrs. Collins told the Houston Chronicle. "The doctors and nurses know them better than we do."